"There are a lot of customer service opportunities," she said. "One of the ones that we look at that seems to really be a growing field right now is the idea of working a customer service or tech support job from home. When you call a customer service line, you usually think your call is being routed to a call center, maybe in India or somewhere like that. But increasingly, companies are hiring people with home offices to do that kind of work remotely."

There are quite a range of opportunities.

"One of the things that we looked at that seems to be really good for people who need flexible hours is working as a tutor from home. There are sites like tutor.com that pay up to $14 an hour. All you need is an Internet connection and a college degree. Any you essentially make your own hours. There are other things like medical transcription that have traditionally been popular work-at-home jobs. Increasingly, there's a need for translators and proof readers to work at home. So there's actually quite a range of opportunities."

But you need to be aware of the scams. Con artists like to target people who need work. They promise good money for working from home. All they want is your money up front. Don't do it!

If you're considering at work-at-home opportunity, take the time to check out the company making the offer. Check with the Better Business Bureau. Google them to see what comes up.

In my book, no legitimate companies offer work-from-home jobs that require you to give them any money or credit card number to get started. If you're working for them – they pay you!